Held prisoner in Qin, Lord Mengchang got out through the Hangu Pass only because one of his retainers could crow like a rooster.
Tips
history
His name was 田文, a noble of the Qi royal clan. He fed thousands of retainers of every kind, and in Qin two of them saved his life: one crept into the palace like a dog to steal back a fox-fur coat as a bribe, and another crowed like a rooster so that the guards opened the pass before dawn. That is the story of 鸡鸣狗盗.
culture
His retainer 冯谖 gave the idiom 狡兔三窟, 'a wily hare has three burrows', for the safe havens he prepared for his lord. Centuries later 王安石 scoffed that Lord Mengchang had gathered only cock-crowers and dog-thieves, never a man of real talent.
